Visiting Bangladesh earlier this month in my role as deputy general secretary of the UNI Global Union, I saw some of the improvements made by the accord since clothing brands were challenged to sign it last May.

A huge factory inspection programme is in full swing. Each factory is inspected for structural integrity and fire and electrical safety. By October this year, we aim to have inspected 1,500 factories, and to help us achieve this goal we have employed a dedicated team of more than 100 technical experts and engineers who now conduct 45 inspections per week.

So far, more than 280 factories have been inspected for fire and electrical issues and 240 for structural safety.

The accord is a legally binding agreement signed by two global trade unions, a number of Bangladeshi unions, with more than 160 brands from 20 countries in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia. Almost half of all Bangladeshi factories for the export market and two million workers are covered by its scope.

For years, the global labour movement and NGOs had tried in vain to establish an independent safety inspection regime for Bangladesh – which has the world's second largest national garment industry.

As the scale of the Rana Plaza tragedy unfolded, alongside our sister global union, IndustriALL, we developed a five year, legally binding plan, and we said to the global brands: "Sign up."

Never before has there been such an agreement between global trade unions and multinational brands.

One of the accord's defining features is its transparency. Anyone who wishes can go to the Bangladesh accord website and read the inspection reports. Factory inspection reports are shared with worker representatives and include photographs so that workers, many of whom are illiterate, are able to better understand.

With each inspection, the full scale of the lax standards becomes clearer. We have taken on the daunting task of putting right thirty years of neglect in five years. Every single factory has revealed critical issues that must be dealt with as a condition of doing business with signatory brands in future.

Common problems, for example, include an absence of fire doors, lockable gates at exits, buildings not designed to hold their load, inadequate fire stairs on exit routes, automatic fire alarms requiring upgrades, and the need for better support for, and enclosure of, electrical cables.

In some cases, our engineers have found that a building is at risk of imminent collapse. This can occasionally be addressed by a reduction in weight loads in certain areas by moving material, stock or supplies. Where this is not possible, we have temporarily closed the factory and evacuated workers while a solution is developed.

This disruption to production is unfortunate but there is no choice when we could have another Rana Plaza on our hands. Under accord rules, factories must pay their workers for up to six months while repairs are taking place and at this time all displaced workers are being paid.

By this time next year the Bangladesh accord will have completed its first round of inspections. The next challenge will be to ensure that all necessary renovations and repairs are made on a timely basis. Under the accord the brands are responsible for ensuring that renovations are financially feasible, through improved pricing, loans or other means.

Although the remit of the accord is limited to fire and structural and electrical safety, we hope to help create a sustainable model of health and safety responsibility and accountability with workers on the shop floor fully engaged.

The accord will begin a training program – which will involve union representatives in many factories – and will require all factories to elect a health and safety committee. Worker representatives will participate in inspections. Independently of the accord, IndustriALL and UNI are supporting the growth of unions and collective bargaining across the sector in order to improve a wide range of conditions and enable garment workers to earn a living wage.

Some US brands, including Walmart and Gap, have opted for an alternative, the Alliance. Both programs have adopted the same inspection standards. However, unlike the accord, the Alliance does not include any role for unions, a commitment to transparency or a requirement that brands support remediation. It also does not contain an obligation for brands to stay committed to their factories.

Other brands have not signed any initiative, and the pressure remains upon them to join the accord, along with so many others, and take a stand for a safe garment industry.

The accord is being taken seriously by all of its stakeholders. All of the signatories, brands and unions are committed to ensure that no tragedy like Rana Plaza ever happens again.